Most of these ideas can be scaled up to meet the needs of more customers and can have a huge impact on your financial prosperity. People who land on this page are looking for ways to make money right now. Some of these may be cliche, but that’s because they are proven. You can start making money tomorrow with most of these ideas. You can then, overtime, scale/pivot these active jobs into more passive entrepreneurial efforts. For example, you could start bar tending tomorrow and then one day become a bar owner or beer/wine producer or event planner or whatever you dream up. The point is to get going with something and look for ways to add more value to more people.
As long as there is still the written word, there will always be editors. Freelance editing and proofreading not only pays a decent hourly wage, it also gives you the chance to read about potentially interesting topics too. What's more, pursuing freelance writing & editing as a business idea can afford you a lifestyle that lets you travel the world as a digital nomad. You can find lots of job postings from companies and individuals in need of writing, proofreading, and editing services on Upwork, which makes this a high-demand opportunity to make money online.
Creating your own food blog, will not only be fun but done well it should also be profitable. Link your site to affiliate cooking products, sell your food photos, create and sell your own physical cookbook, or launch a cooking app. Equally, you could turn your cooking blog into a membership site. You would then share all your content, including recipes, how to videos, food photographs, and much more, with only your paid up members.
Thanks to the internet there’s now a wide assortment of ways to make money online. So if you are stuck in a dead-end job and would like to change your life around then this guide will provide actionable strategies to enable you to do so. Whether you are looking for ways to make a bit of extra money, a part-time job or want to create a full-time income stream, there are plenty of opportunities to do so, all online and from the comfort of your own home.

I understand the need to build a profile, but again, after several minutes of answering repetitive questions, I am either told I don’t qualify, or I’m sent an email which contains a broken link, or…you get the idea. I would gladly spend 30 – 45 minutes answering a survey, submit, and earn the amount of $ it said it would pay. But, these last four days have been a royal waste of time.

You can use your phone to receive assignments for short tasks that you complete on the phone itself—app testing and surveys, for example—or location-based gigs, such as mystery shopping or gathering information about merchandising displays at stores. You can even sign up for rewards programs that give you points toward gift cards just for walking into certain stores with your phone (no purchase necessary).

But cutting costs only goes so far. Unless you already make a lot of money and spend like a bon vivant, most people can’t eke out that much more from their budget by decreasing expenses. Plus, the more you retrench, the more your quality of life suffers. (It’s all relative, though — certainly some overspenders could actually improve their lives by tempering their expenditures. Here are 101 ideas for saving money.)

They say that a penny saved is a penny earned. Actually, when you consider that you pay taxes on every penny you earn, you really do make more money by saving than by increasing your income, especially if the extra income will increase your tax rate dramatically. For example, let's say you have a choice between saving $100 or earning an extra $100. If you pay 15% taxes, then when you earn an $100, you only get $85. But when you save $100 off of your existing budget, you keep it all. To sweeten the deal further, if you take advantage of compound interest as found in most savings accounts, over time you'll start making money on the amount saved plus previous interest paid on that amount saved. It'll be pennies at first, but eventually the amount will multiply exponentially.
Okay, so it's a Les Miz--style desperate measure. But if you've got the tresses and the desire to chop 'em off, why not make a little cash while you're at it? You post photos and a description on The Buy and Sell Hair (buyandsellhair.com), either with a listing price or an invitation to field potential buyers' offers. Recent sales include 14 inches of black hair that went for $500 and 16 inches of never-dyed strawberry blond hair that went for $800. Fantine never had it that good.

Get paid to search the Web. Sites like Swagbucks.com and Zoombucks.com will pay you to use their online interface to search the web. To qualify, you need to be willing to download their search bar and use it for everyday Internet use. The only caveat that comes with this “gig” is that you might be paid in gift cards instead of cash. If you can parlay those gift cards into items you need to buy anyway – like groceries or gas – searching online can be a lucrative way to spend your free time.

If you’ve got experience and expertise in a specific area of business, there are hundreds if not thousands of business owners who would love to jump on a phone call and pick your brain. This can be an easy way to make extra money online and to hone your skills to use in your consulting or freelance business. Sites like Clarity.fm let you create a profile where entrepreneurs and business owners can pre-pay to book a phone call with you for a set amount of time. Whether you’re an expert in raising money for startups, building apps, or running a restaurant, you can make extra money selling a few minutes of your time to people in need.
Here on Making Sense of Cents, I discuss how to make extra income, side hustles, side income, and how to make money online a decent amount. I believe that earning extra income can completely change your life in a positive way. A person can stop living paycheck to paycheck, they can pay off their debt, and more all by earning extra money and learning how to make extra money.
Many banks will give you a cash bonus just for opening an account with them. Talk about easy money! Banks are in tough competition for your business and will pay $100, $200 or even $300 just for becoming a customer. For example, right now Chase Bank is offering $200 cash for opening a checking account, and then another $150 cash for opening a savings account. Certain qualifications must be met but if you do qualify that's one easy way to earn $350 cash! Collect $350 cash with Chase Bank
17. Amazon – Have you heard of FBA? It stands for “Fulfilled by Amazon” and it’s getting pretty popular. Basically, you buy products (in bulk is best) and ship them to Amazon for them to store. When your products sell, Amazon packs them up, ships them out and sends you the money (after taking their cut). There are people making a full-time living from FBA, while others just do it for some extra money.
Keep your costs down. In order to turn a profit on what you're selling, choose to sell an item that's inexpensive to make. Lemonade is a classic because all of its ingredients (water, sugar, lemons or lemon juice concentrate, and ice) are fairly cheap and easy to obtain. Popsicles are another favorite because they can be bought in large quantities from the store!
Just be sure to put a lot of care into your product listings. Everything from the titles you use, to how effective the description is at convincing potential buyers your product is better than the rest, and even taking care to shoot high quality product photos can have a dramatic impact on your sales. I recommend using photo editing tools like Fotor, which gives you the ability to edit your images, create captivating graphic designs and more.
It can take time to build up your personal freelance business. Yet, there is more demand than ever for freelancers. So, if you want to kick start making money online through freelancing you can join one of the top freelance networks, such as Flexjobs, SolidGigs, Upwork, Fiverr, or PeoplePerHour. Sign up, build your profile, upload some samples of your work and start making extra money by doing small freelance jobs.
Use Swagbucks for your online searches. Swagbucks is something I don’t use as much, but I do occasionally earn Amazon gift cards with very little work. Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “Swagbucks” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. You’ll receive a free $5 bonus just for signing up today!

Have you ever heard of Uber or Lyft? Of course, you have! This is a great earning opportunity for someone with a reliable car and the ability to navigate their city’s streets. The main barrier to entry is having an approved car that is efficient to keep your costs down. There are lots of stories of Uber drivers making an extra $1k a week outside of their normal day jobs! Not bad. Plus, this is a fun way to get to know your city, help tourists make plans, and get to know interesting people. Lyft is offering $300 Sign-up Bonus! Or if you prefer Uber, click here to drive with Uber. (Or do both!)

the problem with “CashCrate” is that the amount of money that u get out of it is VERY slim.. and even to get that VERY slim portion of money you have to complete a lot of surveys and to cash-in on the money you earned u must make over $20, trust me. i tried it, it took me over 6-12 months to get the cash.. i used the site like if my life depended on it. it was very hard.
Nice writing style Ben. I’m finding out very quickly that to make any money writing, you have to read, read, and then read some more, no matter how smart you feel you are on a subject, before writing your first sentence. I have always been a fan of multiple income streams and am thrilled by the ideas of proofreading, editing, blogging, freelancing and transcribing. Having spent one of my careers doing just that for a large corporation, it’s a perfect fit, but now I can get credit for my work, thanks again for a great article.

@Philip Taylor The point is that this is design is specialized job and is not just a side job. Just because an individual may know a thing or two about the technical aspect of a program does not warrant them to fill that role as a designer. There’s more than just drawing a mark in a program. There’s strategy in brand development, marketing, etc… This is insulting to the creative industry to label logo and branding as a scheme to make extra money.

Sell stuff online. If you have high-quality items to sell, there are a slew of online marketplaces you can use. Just make sure you understand the fees associated with your sale before you take the plunge. Where neighborhood Facebook pages and Craigslist ads are free, many online marketplaces or consignment shops charge for ads or require you to fork over a percentage when you make a sale.
Sign up with focus groups in your area. Studies that you are eligible to participate in pop up sporadically but pay quite well – often more than $50 for an hour of your time. You can also look for focus groups online but will have to sort through a lot of bogus “opportunities” and sites that ask you to pay up-front for the privilege of participating before you find anything worthwhile.
Earn extra money at CashCrate.com by taking part in daily research surveys, doing your shopping online, and referring other members to their program. There’s some money to be made with CashCrate.com completing the free offers, but the real cash comes from the referral program. Read our CashCrate review to learn more or just Sign up for Free with CashCrate.
Signing up with Google AdSense will enable you to make money from advertising on your blog. Google AdSense will place relevant ads around your site, and if your site visitors click on these ads, you will earn a fee. Although each click only amounts to small change, if your blog has high levels of traffic and lots of page views this will quickly amount to a reasonable sum.
If you live near a university, there are likely all sorts of research studies looking for participants. While I was an undergrad at Virginia Tech, I got paid $500 to participate in a 6-week dietary study. The study provided all my meals and paid me, but I had to eat a 5,000 calorie diet of 50% fat for 6 weeks, plus I had multiple muscle biopsies, urine/blood testing, etc.

Invest. There are no guarantees when it comes to investing, but you should always start sooner rather than later. If you are looking for a good investing platform, I recommend Motif. Motif Investing allows individuals to invest affordably. This approachable investing platform makes it easy to buy a portfolio of up to 30 stocks, bonds or ETFs for just $9.95 total commission.

29. Videos – This could be an entire section on it’s own. Many people have made money by creating YouTube videos. Evan of EvanTube is a kid and he has made millions by creating reviews of products that other kids his age would use. It’s not easy to get views into the millions, but once you do, you’ll start seeing some cash come in. Many bloggers have completely turned to videos to get their point across by starting a video blog.
Take advantage of the growing delivery trend and sign up for a service like Instacart, UberEats, Postmates or Amazon Flex. You get paid per delivery, in most cases, and can even earn tips. A car isn’t always required — Postmates lets you use a bike, scooter or your own two feet to make deliveries — but a background check almost always is part of the deal. Learn more about how to get started with Amazon Flex, UberEats and Instacart.
The second step is to get your web hosting. There are a lot of hosting companies out there, and Bluehost seems to be one of the best. Hosting starts at around $2.95 a month. It’ll most likely cost you around $60 a year, which is really good deal! If you pay for more than one year at a time, you also get a free domain through Bluehost if you buy through my link.
Video is growing like crazy. And more and more people are looking for professional help cutting their raw footage into viral-worthy content. If you have the right software and a bit of skill, you can easily make money online as a video editor. Check out these article of Fstoppers on how to become an online video editor and then look for relevant jobs on Mandy.com, Creative Cow Job Search, or ProductionHub.

If you have a knack for a certain subject and live near a college, consider offering up your brain power and teaching skills for some quick cash. Grade school kids need help too, and parents pay better than college students. You can take this idea to the next level and scale by tutoring online. We have an interview post dedicated to a chemistry tutor who took his skills to Tutor.com. To be successful, you have to have a good grasp of the concepts but also be able to find a way to relate topics using real-world examples.

Depending on your skill set, you could easily make a few hundred dollars or even a few extra thousand per month. And if you have some money to invest, you could easily launch into a variety of day trading activities. Those present some risks of your original capital. But if you know what you're doing and you work to hedge your bets by placing stops and limits, you could create sizable upside with lower-than-usual risks.
Cafe Press: This website allows you to create digital designs that can then be sold on the platform. You'll earn a commission for everything that sells and you'll never have to deal with printing, warehousing, customer service and so on. The site has over 2 million independent designers that have created products being sold online here. If you have some graphic design skills, then this is a great potential source for your web-based income.
Copywriting. Bloggers and business owners are out there looking for freelance writers to help them with their internet marketing campaigns. If you can write a good video marketing script, sales copy, press release, product reviews, website content and advertising copy, you can make money doing exactly that. You may need basic SEO skills since most of these copywriting jobs require some knowledge on how search engines work. These people are looking for traffic, and they will only hire you if you can deliver that.
Similar to writing reviews, you can become a freelance writer and make extra money writing articles and website copy. While you don't have to be a professional journalist to write for a website, it helps if you've blogged or had your own website where you blog regularly. Even better is showing that you have some experience in the niche in which you're trying to find a job.
With apps being constantly developed, competent app developers are in high demand. Again, if you have the experience or skills to create successful apps then this could be something you could end up working on as a full-time freelancer. Check out adverts for developers on Toptal, a higher paying jobs site for experienced freelancers wanting to make money online.
A service like Paribus or Earny will help you collect refunds you're owed from stores. This is a great way to potentially put some extra earnings on autopilot because you're using an innovative tool to get a refund you deserve. When you make an on-line purchase at a Paribus monitored store (you can view the retailers they monitor here), Paribus engages with the retailer on your behalf and files a claim requesting a refund. When Paribus succeeds and a retailer issues a price adjustment, you are credited funds directly onto the original form of payment or provided the equivalent amount in store credit. It is sometimes necessary for you to call the company, or fill out a form to receive that credit in addition to Paribus reaching out. Paribus provides a convenient desktop version and an iOS app with a live feed of savings. Paribus compensates us when you sign up for Paribus using the links we provided.
According to Paul Ryan, president of Secret Shopper (secretshopper.com), all that's required to be a spy consumerist is "common sense and internet savvy." His company sends sneaks to grocery stores, health clubs and restaurants. Each gig earns you $20 to $100 a pop. "The pizza-delivery ones are the best because I don't have to go anywhere, and I get free food," she says. Get additional assignments at certifiedfieldassociate.com and iccds.com.
Some subjects are much better paid than others, so although you may love the idea of writing about travel (badly paid) a better bet would be a niche like finance (much higher rates of pay). Check out the Pro Blogger job board for high paid freelance writing jobs – other places to look might be Textbroker or you can look at the “gigs” section on Craigslist.
If you already own an up-to-date computer and have a landline phone, you could start your own home-based call center without much investment in additional home office equipment. Many companies hire people to work from home as telephone customer service representatives, sales reps, and technical support agents. Hours and pay rates vary from company to company. Many of these companies are looking for part-time, evening workers, so virtual call center work can be perfect for moonlighting from home.
Even in the age of automation, some jobs still require a human touch. Companies often outsource those jobs via services like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. These jobs can be tedious — tagging images, transcribing videos, classifying receipts — and can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Pay depends on the task, and the person requesting the work gets to approve the finished product before paying you. That can leave room for scams, so do your research and join a community like TurkNation, which can steer you away from shifty dealers. Read more about doing tasks on Mechanical Turk.
Do you search the Internet? Want to get paid for it? Swagbucks is a site that rewards you for doing various online tasks like taking surveys, watching videos, and using their search engine. When using their search engine, you get reward points after several searches, usually in the amount of 10-15 points. You can start cashing out rewards at the 500 points mark.
Salvage and resell. Do you love antiques or have a knack for finding valuables at flea markets or yard sales? If you do, it might be time to consider salvaging items for resale – or even scouting out antiques to sell for a profit. While you’ll need to spend quite a bit of time searching for prospects and spend some money buying upfront, you could easily turn a profit if you know what you’re doing.